Hear that sucking sound? It’s the sound of large corporations sucking profits out of Cook County by paying workers poverty wages while relying on Cook County taxpayers to subsidize life’s necessities – like childcare, housing and healthcare – that corporate low wages make unaffordable for their workers.

It’s time for that to change.

Large corporations ought to pay their workers a decent, living wage. But at the very least, we can’t allow corporations to rely on all of us to fatten their bottom lines. Families who work should make enough for basic necessities - such as childcare, housing and healthcare. These same corporations pay huge CEO salaries and provide good returns to investors. It’s clear they can afford to pay workers a decent wage, but simply choose to put profits over people and residents of Cook County.

Cook County needs a strong social safety net to help people in times of crisis, but large corporations shouldn’t pad their profits by forcing their workers to rely on it for life’s necessities.